Formed just two years ago by long-term friends John
Bloug, who takes care of the compositions, and Detect,
turntablist in chief, Language Computer reference influences
from Anticon, Mush or Def Jux as well as Warp (mostly
Boards Of Canada, Aphex
Twin and Autechre),
Kid 606’s Tigerbeat6 and Rephlex. While the press
release remains discreet on Bloug’s background,
it reveals that Detect has been a member of French underground
hip-hop collective Metalcrabs for a couple of years,
together with DJ Fab and Orgasmic, who he met during
a Parisian performance from DJ Vadim. He has featured
on Fab’s La Caution’s 2001 album Asphalte
Hurlante, and regularly deejays at the Batofar,
one of Paris’s most active alternative venues.
The idea of working together came up after Detect heard
Bloug’s compositions, and, getting the idea of
working on an instrumental after hearing Buck 65’s
Fifteeen Minutes To Live, the pair rapidly
started to commit ideas to hard drive. The result, an
epic twenty-six minute long track, was self-released
on CD before being made available for download on a
variety of hip-hop and electronic websites.
Mouse Back Riding, the pair’s first album,
presents an interesting blend of avant-guard hip-hop
and experimental electronica formed around Detect’s
turntables and scratches, and Bloug’s complex
electronic structures. Formed of fourteen shorter pieces,
ranging from a few seconds to just under five minutes,
this album blurs the boundaries of electronic music
and hip-hop by intricately weaving sounds, samples and
scratches together. If the pair’s influences are
palpable all the way through, their control over sound
and constructions give this album a unique touch, allowing
for Language Computer to explore their musical grounds
freely. Right from the start, Bloug and Detect assert
their experimental approach with the short and tormented
Plan Lambda, before getting down to business
with Null-O, slowly building a stunning melody
around scratches and bleeps. Ranging from lullaby-esque
moments vaguely reminiscent of Boards
Of Canada or Plaid
(Solid Creek, Offset, Kids Undermirror)
to more upfront compositions (Bulle Cassée,
Echafaudage, Derrière La Porte),
Language Computer manage to remain consistent all the
way through, never veering too far away from their basic
sound, yet, constantly bringing new elements to the
mix.
Bringing some human aspect to Mouse Back Riding,
Hi Tekk and James Delleck rap in French on Petite
Créature De Poche and Impensable Verité
respectively, while Buck 65’s lazy delivery give
Echafaudage an air of late Parisian summer.
Closing the album, the sweet melancholy of Kids
Undermirror provides Parisian singer Reiko Underwater
with one of the most captivating moments of this record.
Aiming to approach the turntable as a proper instrument,
Language Computer create with this first album a truly
unique and fascinating collection of dark sonic structures,
yet manage to lighten up the load through simple melodic
lines. Mouse Back Riding is nothing short of
a masterpiece.
4.7/5 |
